Rahul Gandhi slams centre, demands special status for AP

Feb 03, 2016

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Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday took a dig at the BJP-led NDA Government over the delay in granting of special category status to Andhra Pradesh, saying it is the responsibility of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to fulfill his promises.

“It is the responsibility of the Prime Minister to grant 'special state' status to Andhra Pradesh. For the first time in the history of independent India, a promise made by the Central Government (granting special status) is not being fulfilled. His words should carry weight,” said Gandhi while addressing a rally in Anantapur.

Gandhi also charged the Centre with adopting a hypocritical stand on the Mahatma National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme Act (MNREGA). “Even Arun Jaitley ji in a closed room appreciated the MNREGA programme. To which I said why doesn't he say this in the open? He (Arun Jaitley) smiled and didn't reply,” he added.

“The whole country profited as conditions in villages got better through MNREGA. Under MNREGA, the rural economy enhanced what was reflected nation-wide. We didn't ask caste or religion of poor, we only said all poor of India be helped through MNREGA,” he said while praising the UPA regime, which introduced this scheme.